Highland Park – Magnus

Highland Park Magnus is a single malt from Orkney, matured in American oak casks that were seasoned with sherry. It is named after Magnus Eunson, a descendant of the Vikings who settled on the islands. He ran an illicit still in a bothy, a small stone hut, at High Park in Kirkwall, where the distillery still stands. Highland Park gives 1798 as its founding year, though the distillery says that is simply when the authorities caught up with Magnus, who had been making whisky before then. It is described as having notes of sweet vanilla, overlaid with the distillery's distinctive aromatic smokiness.